H-1B Visa News

USCIS Informs that Computer-generated Random Selection Process or Lottery for FY 2015 H-1B Completed

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 7 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2015. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption.

Important Information on Form I-129 H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B Petitions

If an H-1B, H-2A, or H-2B petitioner submits evidence establishing that the primary reason for failing to timely file an extension of stay or change of status request was due to the government shutdown, USCIS will consider the government shutdown as an extraordinary circumstance and excuse the late filing, if the petitioner meets all other applicable requirements.

Labor Certification Registry Document Availability Schedule (as of July 1, 2013)

Currently, the LCR displays all certified H-1B1 and E-3 Labor Condition Applications (LCA) and Permanent labor certifications, dating back to April 15, 2009. However, the Department is experiencing technical difficulties with the display of approved H-1B LCAs. In addition, due to the historical paper-based filings of H-2A and H-2B applications, these labor certification documents must be manually redacted and uploaded to the LCR and, therefore, only a limited number of records covering Fiscal Year 2013 are currently available.